Next week’s UFC Vegas 49 event was supposed to be headlined by a lightweight fight between top five contenders Islam Makhachev and Beneil Dariush. It is likely a title eliminator bout to determine who faces the winner between Justin Gaethje and reigning champion Charles Oliveira at UFC 274 in May.
Unfortunately, that’s no longer happening. As reported by Ariel Helwani on Twitter on Wednesday night, Dariush was forced off the bout due to an ankle injury. The UFC has yet to announce whether or not there will be a replacement opponent for Makhachev, or if the matchup will be postponed to a later date.